This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. Primary support for the subproject and the subproject's principal investigator may have been provided by other sources, including other NIH sources. The Total Cost listed for the subproject likely represents the estimated amount of Center infrastructure utilized by the subproject, not direct funding provided by the NCRR grant to the subproject or subproject staff. The overall goal of the proposed pilot project research is to investigate plasticity in carbohydrate metabolism and transport (CMT) gene expression under conditions of temperature stress in the newly emerging ecological model species, Arabidopsis lyrata. The specific aims of the proposed research are 1) to use bioinformatics methods to analyze high throughput genomic sequence data for significant population level allele polymorphism and evidence of adaptive evolution in CMT genes in individuals from three populations and 2) to perform follow-up gene expression studies using quantitative RT-PCR on specific genes identified in the bioinformatics analysis. The results of these studies are expected to provide some support for the hypothesis that phenotypic plasticity is conferred by divergence in gene or allele expression in response to different environmental conditions. These data may then provide support for a full proposal to more thoroughly investigate gene duplicate and allele divergence mechanisms for the evolution of physiological plasticity in carbohydrate metabolism and transport.